


Small steps for a heart

by Mundy



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Brotherly Love, Character Development, Emotions, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Heartache, Male-Female Friendship, Memories, Memory Loss, Misery, One Shot, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Sad, Sad Ending, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-08
Updated: 2015-02-08
Packaged: 2018-03-11 05:41:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3316265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mundy/pseuds/Mundy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lea who recently got his heart back is sent out on a mission on his own, he hates losing people and is very stubborn. His nature is loving, kind and easy going, and he meets someone that makes him feel so much joy and happiness (something which he has lacked for over ten years), and he wants to help them, which he does, but things go wrong -- One can't always save the day, not even if they are a superhero.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Small steps for a heart

**Author's Note:**

> Amy is an original character of mine, and so is also her world. The whole story was something which was created out from an audio file, trust me. There will and may be sentences and developments which lacks debt, though, it was midnight and I was falling asleep, shame on me.

He had lost count of how many times he had begged the old coot to give him a mission of his own, though, this time it had actually worked. Yen Sid along with King Mickey had decided that he was ready, ready to go on a mission on his own and his heart had never been as fiery as now. To have his own personal mission, to be able to save someone without the aid of Sora, or Riku, it was the best feeling in the world.

The keyblade wielder had made sure that every instruction was clear, that the world name he had gotten was correct, and that he was fully stacked up on potions as well other necessities, such as magic. The King had believed in him, though, the Magician had been of a different kind. A smaller grudge still held towards the darkness the redhead had merged from, though, he had still stated a decent goodbye and a firm; “Good luck.”

A flick of his wrist, and his trusty keyblade was placed within his hand, aiming for the sky and unlocking one of the few worlds which rarely would let themselves be opened; The World Without Sun. A world, which had been abandoned by light, but, which yet, seemed to still be outside of darkness. Something that was hard, yet suitable for a young heart in training. The one and only place he would feel great victory, but also great, great loss. Smaller steps for a heart, bigger steps for a keyblade wielder were soon to come; and Lea of all, would feel the pain of loss once again…

Boots stepped onto concrete as emerald eyes blinked, fairly prepared for the sensation of rain, though only to meet the stinging ray of a golden sun. This couldn’t be right, could it? He had been informed that this place never came with sun, but, here it was, shining as bright as in the desert. He must had gotten the direction wrong somewhere along the way, though, the appearance seemed to be correct. A major city, skycrapers tackling the skies and tearing the clouds apart, cars and people – Eyes widened.

_The people of this world is not human.  
                        Darkness has overtaken them._

                Everyone’s faces were blank, every figure he cast his eyes upon were only drifting, not even living. Did they even breathe? Possibly not. Even shadows from the realm had more facial expressions, these people – They were close to being d e a d. How could this be so? How could a world like this, still be alive? He had no clue. But it sure was creepy.

                Quietly and slowly making his way further into town, eyes scanned over face figure he met. They reeked of negativity, causing his heart to tremble at one point. There was no voices, only mere whispers. Words to hurt, and words of shame, they were cursing themselves and each other. Was this the mere end of tragedy and misery? Lea was not sure, he had never, ever seen anything like this. Had he gotten a task too great for his simple skills?

     _There is a red thread,  
                              one light remains intact._

“HEY. LEAVE THEM ALONE.”

                A thunder of a shout rushed through his ears as a hand was raised to try to block the sound out, what on earth had that been!? That was no a whisper. However, it had been a sentence clear as the sun itself, which shone stronger than ever. Lea couldn’t help but to turn in the direction of the loud sound which had reached him, something about it didn’t seem right (nor wrong).

“I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE—THEM— **ALONE.** ”

                At the speed of light a can came flying, hitting the side of the redhead, causing him to whine and to summon his keyblade as the sight of shadows came fleeing from a back alley. They were chased? That couldn’t be it – Boots turned on their heel, heading for the alley they had crept out from, only to meet the biggest power of them all; A new can being tossed, and this time it planted itself straight to his face.

“!?WHAT THE—“

“I TOLD YOU TO-- !? – Wh-what in the name of – Who are you!?”

“WHY ARE YOU THROWING CANS!?”

“BECAUSE I AM PROTECTING THE CATS.”

“WHAT CATS—WHY CANS???”

“I DON’T KNOW HOW TO CHASE THOSE THINGS AWAY.”

“OKAY BUT WHY ARE WE YELLING?!”

                Emerald eyes blinked as keyblade vanished again, a hand being pressed to his forehead. “That hurt – A lot.” Lea mumbled as he rubbed it gently, letting out smaller pained noises. He had expected an attack, just not from a can. That was not normal, not even for him. Who could even throw things that hard.

                Footsteps made their way toward the redhead, eyes blinking at the figure. He was not one of people from here. He had colors? He wasn’t gray, nor whispering. This one was loud; loud like her. Had she been blessed with more than a day of sun? Hands fell down into her shorts pockets as curious eyes glanced up at the male; “You’re as old as me – Amazing…”

     _The red thread is unstable,  
                               but, it can still be saved._

_Pull it correctly, Lea._

                A female around his height came to his vision, her locks were mixed with color and darker shades, body colored in a tinted gray, and clothes shining brightly in the colors of red. _The red thread?_ Lea blinked at her, they were even at the same age? Clear features and very specific features gave off the hint, though, was this the one he was searching for? “Yeah, I guess – So, uh, cats and cans, huh? Quite the weaponry…”

“Don’t mock. It’s not like I have a lot to work with here…”

“I figured… Ya’ don’t – Throw cats, do you?”

“…Why would I throw cats!? I protect them! Or… I try –”

“Right, right – Just checking – It was bad enough with a can, don’t want a cat as well.”

“… What’s your name -- ? You have a name – Right?”

“Of course – It’s Lea – My name is Lea… Got it memorized?”

                A sentence that ripped off a smile of the woman’s face enough to make a few more clouds vanish over their heads. It was summer, and summer was fluttering. This stranger had approached a world so unlike everyone else, what had drawn him here? It was something she had no clue of whatsoever. _His hair matches my clothes._

“I’m Amy.”

     _Artificial_  
        Memory  
            Yammer  
                An innocent smile met Lea’s sight as it tugged at his heart. She was the only one left? No one else had greeted him, nor looked in his direction. This one had a face, and colors, and finally yet importantly, a face that actually held emotions. Had really everyone gone astray? Was she the only exception?

                Smaller insecure sounds came from the girl as she stuck a hand into a bag she carried over her shoulder, the least she could do was to offer him a beverage, right? And therefore a can was sent to him softly as Amy took a few steps closer to him. “Don’t worry, I won’t throw this one… I hope orange is to your taste?” She chuckled lightly as the redhead reached for it, smirking with a shrug.

“I don’t mind it.”

                Lea opened it and took a sip, finding the taste horribly bland, though something which didn’t seem to bother the female. “It tastes bad, doesn’t it? I can’t taste things anyways… I drink and eat whatever I find.” Was she reading his mind? Whichever she was, it seemed as if she was aware of the situation around her; it worried him, how could she be aware and still be working?

“Was it that obvious?”

“Sort of… You blinked when you tasted it.”

“… Yeah, it was a bit bland.”

“I guessed so…”

                A hand fondled with the can as the female decided to walk past the male, humming quietly to herself, allowing the male to walk after her. So, this was the one he had come to save? “Is everyone like that? You know, sorta not existing and stuff… Because, if they are then you are the only exception that I have seen so far… You actually talk and yell, and… Well, stuff.” Lea mumbled as he followed her, letting a smaller distance grow between them.

“It sounds so wrong when you say it like that. You make it sound like I am not a part of them; and I am a part of them, one of them. We are the same kin.”

“—S—Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that I – I just…”

                They kept walking, and every now and then a glance was sent from Amy to Lea, making sure that he was in fact there and not a piece of her imagination. It was so weird, to have a new and actually living human being here with here again. She had been so certain that they had all vanished all those years ago, when the great wave had come along and taken them with it. The wave of darkness, hatred and negativity. Emotions and features that scared her.

                Lea scratched the back of his head as he held onto the can he had received. What he had said back there made his heart twist a little, a smaller sting of guilt striking him. Was she still considering herself as one of those creatures? This girl had a heart at least, unlike the others, right?

“—I just thought that ya were an exception, because of the emotions you show.”

“…?”

“You yell, ya’ smile, they don’t do that…”

* * *

 

 “It’s not like… I’m much of an exception to this world, you know… I’m just as gloomy, mean and corrupt as anyone else – But, very much unlike the rest of these people, I turn my other cheek to it whenever I have had enough. Some days I don’t want to feel bad for myself, and I want to help people? Is that – Really something exceptional? I don’t think so at least…” She muttered out with a smaller sigh as she glanced away from her soda can and Lea, eyes resting on the still water running beneath them. To her, the words Lea had thrown at her earlier had only made her confidence shrink, causing it to wither more than it already had. _I’m nothing special._

Lea’s eyes turned worried at her words, hand gripping lightly around his own soda can. Was it really… That hard for her to see her own uniqueness? If there was one thing he had learned, it was that every heart was special, no matter which origin, and even if it was drenched in sadness; “—Ya’ know… I knew someone like ya’ once. Man, he sounded just like ya’, if not even more like ya’, and he had the purest heart that I have ever seen.” _Roxas._ “Ya’ wanna feel bad for yourself? That’s cool, we all do that sometimes… But look around ya’, every single face here is filled with rage, impatience and envy. Ya’ aren’t like that, and I can see that. Those kittens back there? Those people wanted to kill’em, and then you came running, tossing cans at them –” A chuckle escaped the redhead’s lips as they tugged up into a wide smile, head tilting forward. A humorous sight that still cracked him up.

“… Ya’ are special, if not to yourself, then at least to me, Amy –”

“You’re cliché.” A twitch came from Lea as the female spoke, sipping from her soda can. This one was really blunt. “Not that cliché is a bad thing but, geez, you could have written a soap opera with those words.” What was a soap opera? Lea had no idea, but apparently, it was something negative. Eyes still didn’t want to stay still though, because her words worried him. Everyone else in this world had already been swallowed, and it didn’t need one more heart to go down.

_There is one light left, Lea.  
         Make sure that it doesn’t go out._

“… I guess some people make me go a bit cliché,” Lea laughed lightly as he took a sip from his soda, it had not even been five hours, and he had already felt more joy than what he had since he had awakened again. This female was interesting, funny and impulsive. Almost fitting for a fighter of light… “Say Am—” Her head turned as lips opened;

“Do you believe in superheroes?”

“H—uh?”

“Do you believe in superheroes?!” Eyes were glimmering towards him as hands gripped more at her soda can, was she changing the subject out of will? Orbs glimmered, though, there was a smaller plead in her smile; _please answer me and don’t pry more._

“U—h… I guess? No? Not really – Dunno what ya’ sorta look for when you say superhero, you know?” Amy’s eyes turned relieved as she nodded, soon laughing a bit wryly. “You are a superhero, moron.” Word which made Lea blink, glancing softly over at her. “Like, seriously – You wield that cool thing,” movements were made as the female took a few steps away from the rail of the bridge, swinging the can lightly around, trying to demonstrate his movements. “Like swish, swoosh and BANG – It’s so cool… I bought a thing like it once, but I lost it…” Facial expressions in various specters. It was so many at once, and it almost made Lea dizzy, but he still laughed, back turning to lean on the rail.

“I wish I could do cool stuff like you… All I can do is kick and punch.” A frown laid itself onto her lips as she leaned onto her hip, arms halfway crossed. What was Lea supposed to reply to that? He didn’t have much to say, or do, other than snorting into his can of soda. Her enthusiasm was great, it was almost like seeing Sora, though, at the same time, she held the serious structure very much like Riku.

It was amazing how some humans were sewn together.

        _Lea. This is your job.  
                       If you fail this world – It will f a d e._

A smaller earthquake caused the moving girl to almost fall over, quick feet leaping over to scoop her up into an embrace, “woah, woah – easy there so you don’t get hurt.” Cans rolled down the bridge as eyes met, green on transparent, reflecting the green of his own. Her eyes were hollow with darkness fighting the light, and yet, they were – “Lea?”

“Y-Yeah?”

“How come you have saved me for the second time today?”

“… --h” He laughed softly as he slowly helped her back onto her feet. “ I guess I’m lucky.”

“How can you be lucky? I am the lucky one –”

“Lucky in the fact that I get to rob a glance of your eyes.”

A mere moment of silence struck them as she tilted her head away from the chest of the male, she didn’t feel warmth anymore, but something about him triggered something which actually made her feel alive. Lea was light. Lea had become her light.  But; every light must f a d e –

“You are not from here… I assume you will leave?”

“…It’s my job – But – As long you need me. I will be here. Me and my stupid face.” A laughter was shared between them, though, transparent eyes had glanced up at a fair face holding a glance the redhead had missed out on. Eyes which held great worry, and if not that, then deep, deep pain. _You too are going to leave me. I had hoped… That at least you would have stayed._

“What if – I need you forever?”

“… That’s – Something not even I can do.”

“… Sorry – Greed, you know. Sins and all that.”

“—If – I could, I would’ve but –“

“???”

“I’m Lea, ya’know, the guy who’s always there to save ya – Got it memorized? If ya’ screw up, I’ll be there at the speed of light. Got a few cans to toss? Sure, I’ll help you out… Just – Think of me, and I’ll be there.” Words she had only read, and never heard, words that were more than enough to make her turn her head towards him, lips gently pecking his cheek. _I will think of you, Lea._

         _They are no longer humans,_  
                                           not even the light itself.  
                       They lost their light long ago, and there is nothing  
                                                                       which can bring it b a c k.

A new earthquake shook through town, and it caused their tender moment to break, attention being sent to the core of the city, a shorter female pushing herself out of his grip, making a run for it. “A-Amy wait!” Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.

 _A great city we all knew and traveled by,_  
    it was consumed so many years ago but  
    no one ever interrupted, because they  
    seemed to have c o n t r o l of it, but, we  
    were wrong… Oh – We were so wrong.  
                                    They f e l l, **everyone f e l l.**

Boots ran heavily down the bridge, past the shopowner and down the alley which led to the plaza. For all these years, she had been alone, slowly and quietly trying to make everyone remember what they had forgotten; sarcasm, tears and laughter. Emotions so strong that they could make even the meanest go soft, and the softest go hard. She wanted to make everyone remember, to feel and to love again. Friends. F r I e n d s. Had none of these people ever missed one of them -- ? She knew now, what it was to have a friend again; but, she also knew the **sorrow** of losing one.

     _It’s my job._

Veins of darkness pulsated through the crack of the concrete as the female burst into the center of the town, eyes widening in great fear, mouth gaping and feet stumbling, causing her to fall to the ground. The sight which she met made her insides shake and bones to break. A great shadow with eyes as red as hatred, breath as cold as ice. Hate. HATE. S O R R O W AND G R I E F. It groaned, it longed, and everyone in the city had been absorbed.

The darkness was united.  
      The light had been put out.

                                      _Think of me, and I’ll be there --_

“Da—Darn it—” Lea muttered out as he stopped, breath rushing out past his lips as he turned around. Where had she gone? She couldn’t be too far away? And she wasn’t – Shivers was sent down his back as it reached his ears, the shriek of a female, whose voice he knew very well. Teeth gritted as brows frowned, feet quickly rushing in the direction on the shriek. This was not good. Shrieks were never good. Keyblade flamed up into his grasp as he ran towards the center of town, slowly catching on the pulsating veins beneath the ground.

     _I did terrible things --_  
           They fell. Everyone f e l l.  
    I let them fall --  
          We could not save their world.

    “I – Am – sorry…”

Tears dwelled up in her eyes as a force smile came onto her lips, pearls trilling down her cheeks and red locks swaying as he rushed up towards her. This couldn’t be happening. Not now. He had been so close – This world – That heartless – Was it really **that** corrupt and lost!? Had he not promised her that he would help her, guide her and her world back into the light?! Lea had promised, and she had let him promise. _You are so strange, I like it._ Was… he – That much of a **_f a I l u r e_?**

“Don’t say that! – Don’t let it get to ya’!” Lea growled towards her as the sight of darkness draping around her caused the Keyblade to take shape his hand, feet not stopping, not even once. He had to catch up to it, to time and to her. Heart was pounding faster, faster and faster. Tick, tock, goes the clock. He had to make it. “Leave her **_alone --_**!” Leaps and jumps combined as her figure slowly drifted away, tentacles of darkness spreading out through the concrete as it slowly began to embrace the world. Shots of darkness fired at the male, everything was to stop him. It wanted the last light. _I have to save her! I have to save them –_

“Lea –“

“!? –“

“… -- !” Lips moved, words turning into mere whispers as a hand waved at him, causing emerald orbs to water up. It was too late. Wasn’t it always too late? It couldn’t! No. His made was made up, and keyblade was swung as he made a jump for the shadow that had started to eat up the surroundings. He came to fight, and he sure as hell would fight until the end itself. If he were to fall down with the darkness, then it just had to swallow him. He was not going to let another one fall. Not again, not hers. “I’ll bring you back! I **promise** \-- Amy!”

_Thank you!_

In the blink of an eye, it was gone. The sun that had embraced the place had been swallowed, and the only thing left was rain, traffic and people with gray stained face and orbs hollow as buckets. Emeralds glanced as feet stopped moving, a smaller gape forming on his mouth. She was gone. She wasn’t here. Lea turned, looked to every angle – Had the darkness swallowed her? Eaten the only good and open minded thing left in this world, only to leave the vessels behind!? A trembling hand clenched tightly around the handle of the Keyblade as a might, shaking scream came from the male, her name roaring through the streets, drenched in worry and pain.

“ ** _AMY!!!_** ”

He wasn’t sure if the world around him stopped existing, or if he was the one that was never supposed to have existed in the first place, though, not even once someone answered him. Not a glance, a shout back, or a can being thrown at him. Heck, there was not even a shadow coming out for him. Closed eyes trembled, had it all been a daydream?

“…Are you – Okay?”

Eyes opened wide.

“—It’s not really – ” _Normal to shout things out in the open._ “Normal to be that loud about a girl --?”

Lea turned around slowly, heart striking with several emotions at once, as he caught onto dark locks swaying in the breeze, shiny eyes blinking at him. They had never been so beautiful, and she had never been as alive – Had he succeeded? “A—“ Before Lea managed to say her name, several signs told him that **he had failed.** “Did you lose this girl or --? I mean, sure it’s … Sort of easy losing people in these streets if you aren’t familiar with them and all that, but –” The words which came from her lips, they were hers, but not **hers**.

“… Yeah… I guess --” Lea mumbled, turning halfway around, Keyblade vanishing with the movement as the girl blinked at him, clearly annoyed with his answer. He knew **her** features, her movements and words. “Hey –,” he mumbled as he turned his head back to her. “Name’s Lea – Got it – Memorized?” _Forgotten._

“Le-a?” She muttered out, head tilting and lips turning into a faint smile. Moreover, for a faint moment, he could have sworn she had remembered him, because there was something in her eyes, which said; _do you believe in superheroes?_

 


End file.
